Take this , Sartor! Open letter from a Sister!

Not a Black Face on the Block, Frank?
I don't think so, and neither does this deadly sister....
Email follows:

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F@#k!!!

I cant believe in this country, how openly racist and genocidal the "powers that be" are. Its shocking. It makes apartheid look like a tea party. What is more shocking is the silence out there, which condones yet another racist land grab. the complete imposition of them and the invisibility of the real local people, and just the burying of that awareness that there are first nations peoples here first....pay some respect man.

Im from a coastal peoples, so I know when Im walking St kilda beach, this place would have been flush with the brothers and sisters, the relationship with the land, hey man this would have been shell fish paradise. Dont bullshit to me white australia that there was no one here, or "they went walkabout".

Is it really, and does it have to be so Australian to be racist, genocidal and land hungry.

"There is a very real possibility that the minister's opinion is being influenced by developers who have publicly stated they would like to see no Aborigines living on the Block before they invest in Redfern ... The Minister strongly indicated that the pressure was on him to cut a deal well before the next election."

This cancer is pervasive, in their law, their business, their economics. Their politicians aren't even shy to pork barrel in public. people I've met in the 'burbs' believe that they are not racist because they have brought an aboriginal painting.

An economy built on a house of cards, everybody mortgaged to the hilt, land development has gone through the roof. I find it hard to believe that not many can see that this is all done on the backs of the Aboriginal nations.

Its like their is a collective, "if we pretend they are not there, maybe they will go away" no time soon.... hey Mr Sator kiss my natural born brown ass.

naku noa

Sina

Bringing the ancestors home....Karingal remains reburied in Sydney

NIT: "Aboriginal bitterness laid to rest with trdaitional burial
Friday, 4 March 2005 9:52:48 AM

SYDNEY, NSW, March 3, 2005: Past bitterness and misunderstandings were laid to rest today when two national museums gave up collections of Aboriginal remains for a traditional burial in Sydney.

The remains of 14 Aborigines native to Sydney's northern beaches were buried at North Head, near Manly's historic Quarantine Station.

'The 14 people whose spirits we lay to rest here today were all from the Karingal mob,' Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council chairman Rob Welsh said.

'This is their land. Their people lived here for tens of thousands of years.'
Mr Welsh said the remains belonged to people stolen by European scientists more than 200 years ago for research.

'When the Europeans invaded they didn't just take our land, they also stole the bodies of our people,' he told a commemoration service today.

'They thought we were dying out so they wanted to measure and study us in the name of science and progress.'

Mr Welsh said the work of government bodies, the National Museum of Australia and the Australian Museum together with Aboriginal groups had 'buried some of the bitterness and misunderstandings of the past'.

'Although stealing bodies would sound gruesome to anyone, it's even more frightening to Aboriginal people,' he said.

'We believe that after we die we should be returned to the country where we were born.

'To a blackfella, not being buried in your own country means your spirit can't be at rest.'

Wrapped in paperbark, the remains were carried by the elders and young people up a grey sandy path, through the scrub of North Head to 14 empty graves, surrounded by burnt banksia trees.

To the beat"

20-20 Hindsite? We wish!

NIT

Tahltan Elders Press Release February 25, 2005

And while yr' there, join up with the forums on ghostchild.com unity and justice globally.

GhostChild.com -> Tahltan Elders Press Release February 25, 2005

Australian Aboriginal Leader calls for Justice from Geneva

In a statement issued from Geneva, Aboriginal political activist, Michael Anderson, said today:

“NGO submissions to the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (CERD) told of racial vilification and genocidal practices against its Indigenous Peoples in Australia.”

The CERD commenced its session with open discussion addressing concerns for the lack of early warning indicators and early intervention measures that will enable the UN to take effective steps to intercede.

An Inuit observer from Alaska commented that he felt that it was not pure “co-incidence” that this session on the prevention of genocide preceded the report of Australia.

In his oral presentation to a lunch-time briefing of CERD members, Michael Anderson said:

“Australia has a consistent pattern of policies and departmental strategies that have led to a high mortality rate, and the creation of a condition of life that will destroy the group in whole or in part. The life that our people are forced to live would not be accepted not tolerated by any other section of the Australian community.”

“Various CERD members were alarmed at the continuing high levels of Aboriginal incarceration. The statistics of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system is an indicator of a disturbed society.”

Michael Anderson said:

“The continuation of Australian governments to deny the recognition of Aboriginal custom, tradition and Law/Lore exacerbates the trauma, grief and loss being suffered by Aboriginal people. CERD members raised the question of the status of Aboriginal customary law to that of Western common law.”

Michael Anderson contends that recent court decisions in Australia give the impression that Native Title claims have no standing at all, if the common law gives preference to “past and future acts” by the western society.

Anderson goes on to argue: “The courts are failing to truly examine the correct definition of customary traditional Law/Lore, in favour of looking at Native Title from within a western framework.”

He continues: “During the discussions on genocide it was agreed that a warning sign of genocide are dangerous theories on the incompatibility of co-existence.”

“An important aspect that could lead to preventing genocide is ensuring that there is a clear understanding of the historical memory. It is essential for the Australian States to acknowledge their collective participation in designing an assimilation process through eugenics and social engineering.” Michael Anderson concluded.

“Members of the CERD asked the Australian Ambassador to the UN, Mr Mike Smith, to explain the difference between practical reconciliation and reparation. This was advanced to question what other measures are being offered to the people who suffered removal under past government policies and practices, since Australia’s report indicated that they do not favour financial compensation.”

--

Submission to CERD
(Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination)1-2 March 2005Palais Wilson, United Nations, Geneva

In contradiction to Australia's report to the CERD: an Aboriginal perspectiveby Michael Anderson - Convenor of SUANPA - Leader of the Euahlayi and far western Gumilaroi nations in northern New South Wales (NSW) and south west QueenslandThis brief is in response to the 13th and 14th periodic reports of Australia due on 30 October 2000 and 2002 respectively covering the period 1 July 1998 to June 2002.

Introduction[Paras 1-4] We contest Australia's assertion that they are in fact operating in conformity with the ICERD and other Human Rights covenants.Consultation with State and Territory Governments[Para 5]

Most countries of the world do have a similar constitutional framework to that of Australia. Australia, however, constantly emphasises the need to respect the domestic sovereign powers of the States in accordance with the Federal constitutionâ??s framework in respect to state powers.

Unfortunately for Aboriginal Peoples the Federal government provides shelter for various racist state regimes to operate, arguing that it is their right as a democratically elected institution, to govern in accordance with the mandate given by their constituency.

The reservations made by the Australian government in respect to ICERD, ICCPR, ICESCR are in place to permit the States to operate racially biased and discriminatory laws.

Furthermore, the reservations, which deal with the freedom of speech and expression, permit racist media commentary, which continues to infuriate Aboriginal people and the multicultural sections of Australian society.

We insist that Australia must be influenced to withdraw their specific reservations to articles of ICERD.[.. long submission -->
http://sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=52268&group=webcast
]

Michael AndersonConvenor of SUANPASovereign Union of Aboriginal Nations and Peoples in AustraliaLeader of the Euahlayi and far western Gumilaroi nationsin northern New South Wales (NSW) and south west Queensland28 February 2005

(AAP) United Nations race committee to quiz Australian Govt over Redfern (TJ Hickey) & Palm Island

The NSW Police has claimed it bears no responsibility for the death of TJ Hickey due to an internal police definition of what constitutes a chase! The police wagon following TJ showed no evidence of speeding or of having the flashing lights operating. Any one with half a brain would have to ask just how fast you have to be speeding to follow a boy on a pushbike! And any black kids living in the Redfern area would have to agree that they are constantly followed and harrassed on a daily basis by police in cars that are neither speeding nor displaying flashing emergency lights! Just how stupid do the NSW Police think we are?
[Redfern-W] (AAP) United Nations race committee to quiz Australian Govt over Redfern (TJ Hickey) & Palm Island

ANTaR fears government will ignore UN concerns over abuses of Aborigines [not only in] Redfern & Palm Island

[Redfern-W] (AAP) ANTaR fears government will ignore UN concerns over abuses of Aborigines [not only in] Redfern & Palm Island

Tent Embassy article by Uncle Neville Williams in Canberra Times

Tent Embassy article by Uncle Neville Williams in Canberra Times: "The Canberra Times - Monday, 28 February 2005
Aborigines will not cross that black line
by Neville Williams

[ Neville Williams is a Wiradjuri Elder and has had long involvement
with the Tent Embassy. ]

THE ABORIGINAL people wouldn't be where they are today without the
Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Without it, we'd be even worse off than we
were. The Embassy is more relevant today than ever before.

In many parts of Australia our people are living in appalling
conditions. They don't have adequate housing or water supplies. All over
Australia, many of our people are sick and dying of preventable diseases
like diabetes, heart disease, alcoholism and drug dependency. Our people
also have hearing and sight problems and a host of other ailments. Our
people need improved living conditions and more educational programs.
But most of all we need our land back so we have an economic base from
which to start rebuilding our shattered lives.

The Embassy is on Wiradjuri land, and that's why so many Wiradjuri
people come here. The people who call themselves 'Ngunnawal' are in fact
Wiradjuri - we are all the one people. The site of the Embassy was an
Aboriginal meeting place long before Europeans came to Canberra. There
is very special heritage and spirit here. Some of the trees that have
been destroyed by fire were planted in memory of Aboriginal activists
from the Embassy, who have passed on in the struggle.

One of the fires, in memory of the late Kevin Gilbert, Wiradjuri
activist, poet and playwright, contains s"

Harold Hark: Fred Niles Quits Uniting Church To Join Christian Taliban

Harold Hark: Fred Niles Quits Uniting Church To Join Christian Taliban: "



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Fred Niles Quits Uniting Church To Join Christian Taliban
Harold Hark
22 July 2003
I haven't voluntarily entered a Christian church of any denomination since the days when my mother used to grab me by the ear on Sunday mornings. She was probably grabbing my father's ear as well, but I never noticed. My reticence at the time was due to the excruciatingly boring process that involved putting on silly clothes and sitting for an hour with people who were only there because they were afraid not to be. The old codgers used it as a chance to chat among there own, but I was light years from them. Later in life I stayed away permanently because it had become obvious that there was more to creation than an ectoplasmic white bloke with a beard who acts as a hanging judge on behalf of hateful reactionaries like today's headliner, Fred Nile.
But not all Christians are traitors to the teachings of the admirable carpenter, Jesus H. Nice, who remains a shining example of human potential, regardless of his putative lineage.
There is a Uniting Church at a busy intersection near where I live. It has a big sign which displays those homilies we are used to seeing outside churches, such as 'Good News! God is Love!' Or 'Jesus Died For Your Sins!' The sort of drivel that is only hastening the end of organised religion.
But lately the homilies at this church have been mind blowing. The most recent: 'Is anyone else sick of government by deceit?' caused me to cheer as I sped by on the way to Dan Murphy's for the fortnight's purchase of alcohol. There have been many others.
It turns out these homilies coincide with the church's new Minister. I called the man to thank "

Indigenous rights rallies to demand justice for TJ

Indigenous rights rallies to demand justice for TJ: "Indigenous rights rallies to demand justice for TJ
Norman Brewer, Sydney
The campaign calling for the reopening of the inquest into the February 2004 death of young Aboriginal man Thomas �TJ� Hickey was boosted on February 25 by a dynamic community meeting in Redfern.
The meeting, attended mainly by family and friends of TJ and others in the Koori community, exchanged information and further evidence that should be heard by a new inquest. This includes more evidence that the police chased TJ on his bike prior to his death.
Community members, for example, took photos of chopped-off branches of the bushes and trees along the Renwick Street footpath that strongly suggest the police car following TJ was travelling at a high speed. The failure of police to inform the Aboriginal Police Liaison Officers of what the police were doing (which is against official rules), strongly suggests that �the coppers wanted this �riot� [that took place in Redfern the day after the chase] to happen, in order to draw attention away from what they did to TJ�, one person at the meeting commented. Threats that have been made against eyewitnesses were also discussed.
The community agreed that NSW Labor Premier Bob Carr needs to be pressed to re-open or set-up a new inquiry, this time with all the evidence presented, and all the witnesses testifying. The community pledged to thoroughly mobilise people from TJ�s hometown Walgett and Redfern-Waterloo.
One of those present at the meeting said: �We�re not gonna sit down. We�re not gonna shut up until justice is done ... More than 400 Blacks have been killed in custody [Australia-wide], and not a single cop, not a single screw [jail officer] has ever been convicted ... What has the Carr government got to hide? Why the cover-up? Why all t"

To Eskimos, warming is a rights issue

To Eskimos, warming is a rights issue: "To Eskimos, warming is a rights issue
By Andrew C. Revkin The New York Times Thursday, December 16, 2004
The Eskimos, or Inuit, about 155,000 seal-hunting peoples scattered around the Arctic, plan to seek a ruling from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the United States, by contributing substantially to global warming, is threatening their existence.
.
The Inuit plan is part of a broader shift in the debate over human-caused climate change evident among participants in the 10th round of international talks taking place in Buenos Aires.
.
The talks are aimed at averting dangerous human interference with the climate system.
.
Inuit leaders were announcing the effort at the climate meeting on Wednesday.
.
Representatives of poor countries and communities - from the Arctic fringes to the atolls of the tropics to the flanks of the Himalayas - have said that they are imperiled by rising temperatures and seas through no fault of their own.
.
They are casting the issue as no longer simply an environmental problem but as an assault on their basic human rights.
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The commission, an investigative arm of the Organization of American States, has no enforcement powers. But a declaration that the United States has violated the Inuit's rights could create the foundation for an eventual lawsuit, either against the United States in an international court or against American companies in a U.S. court, said a number of legal experts, including some aligned with industry.
.
Such a petition could have decent prospects now that industrial countries, including the United States, have concluded in recent reports and studies that warming linked to heat-trapping smokestack and tailpipe emissions is contributing to big environmental changes in the Arc"

Tsunami SOS

This is a blog i strongly recommend you read and act upon whatever your hearts and spirits call you to do as your part in transforming the lives of some of the world's poorest people. Your assistance is needed now more than ever as the Media moves on and relief efforts are scaled down.

Tsunami SOS

Black Performers Move Into Oscar Spotlight Monday February 21 8:05 AM ET

Great to see that a record number of minority performers are being spotlighted at the Oscars!


FromReutersMovie News via Yahoo Movies

Black comedian and Oscar host-to-be Chris Rock recently confessed he had seldom watched the Academy Awards , except in 2002 when he tuned in to see the historic triumphs of Halle Berry and Denzel Washington.

"Come on, it's a fashion show," he said half-jokingly in a magazine interview. "What straight black man sits there and watches the Oscars ? Show me one. And they don't recognize comedy and you don't see a lot of black people nominated, so why should I watch it."

This year he is not only watching but hosting a show in which a record number of minority performers are vying for top honors.

Four blacks -- Jamie Foxx , Don Cheadle, Morgan Freeman and Sophie Okonedo -- and a Latina actress -- Colombian native Catalina Sandino Moreno -- have amassed a total of six nominations.

And "Ray," the biographical drama about soul music legend Ray Charles, is the first film with a predominantly African American cast to be nominated as best picture since Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple" two decades ago.

Author George Alexander, whose book "Why We Make Movies" explored the work of black filmmakers, said this year's nominations reflect long-overdue strides blacks have made in Hollywood since Hattie McDaniel broke the Oscar color barrier in 1939 with her Academy Award-winning supporting role as Mammy in "Gone with the Wind."

"We're seeing that actors who have enormous talent but who perhaps hadn't had the opportunity to be leading men, have stepped up to the plate and gotten those opportunities, like Jamie Foxx," Alexander told Reuters.

Moreover, black actors are being recognized this year for performances in overtly heroic roles that transcend race.

Foxx, the first African American to garner two nominations in a single year, is considered a favorite to win the best actor prize for his title role in "Ray," playing the legendary musician who overcame blindness, bigotry and drug addiction to become one of America's most beloved entertainers.

"We have been so flooded with so many negative things in our community," Foxx told the London Times. "For something positive like this to happen it makes those kids and everybody just say, 'Man, maybe I can do it like Jamie Foxx did."

FOXX IN GOOD COMPANY

If he wins, Foxx would be only the third black named best lead actor, following Sidney Poitier for the 1963 film "Lilies of the Field" and Washington three years ago for "Training Day."
Foxx also picked up a nomination as best supporting actor for playing a kidnapped taxi driver opposite Tom Cruise as a contract killer in "Collateral."

In the race for best actor, Foxx faces another black performer nominated for a breakthrough leading role, Cheadle, who in "Hotel Rwanda" plays as a real-life hotel manager who helped save some 1,200 people from mass murder. Okonedo, a British-born newcomer of Nigerian descent, earned a nod as best supporting actress for playing his wife.

The nominations of Foxx and Cheadle for best actor mark only the second time in 77 years of Oscar history that two blacks are competing in that category at the same time. Washington and Will Smith went head to head three years ago.

Regardless of who wins this year, the Oscar attention accorded Foxx and Cheadle is likely to thrust both first-time nominees to the Hollywood forefront.

Meanwhile, veteran actor Freeman is hoping to finally take home a statuette from the fourth Oscar bid of his career, a nomination for his supporting role as the elderly manager of a boxing gym and the voice of reason in Clint Eastwood 's "Million Dollar Baby." He previously was nominated for roles as a pimp in "Street Smart," a chauffeur "Driving Miss Daisy" and a prison inmate in "The Shawshank Redemption"

The lone minority actress up for an Oscar this year is the previously unknown Sandino, making her feature film debut as a drug mule in the Spanish-language drama "Maria Full of Grace."
Racial diversity has been slow in coming to the Oscars.

It took 10 years after McDaniel's triumph for a second black performer even to be nominated -- Ethel Waters for the 1949 racial drama "Pinky" -- and nearly a quarter century for Poitier to win his landmark Oscar for "Lilies of the Field."

Only six Oscars have gone to black actors since then, and no more than three had been nominated at once before now.

Part of that is a function of limited opportunities in Hollywood for blacks, who were long been relegated to clownish parts in comedies or to menial and criminal roles in dramas.

Blacks have also fared far worse behind the camera at the Academy Awards. Only one, John Singleton, has been nominated as best director, for "Boys N the Hood" in 1991.